S Jaishankar retires today; Vijay Gokhale set to take charge as Foreign Secretary

NEW DELHI: Seasoned diplomat Vijay Keshav Gokhale, who played a key role in resolving the Doklam standoff with China, will take charge as the next foreign secretary on Monday, succeeding S Jaishankar.

A 1981-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Gokhale is currently serving as the secretary (economic relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

Gokhale will take charge tomorrow, a senior MEA official said.

Gokhale, considered an expert on China, had played a key role in negotiations to resolve the 73-day-long Doklam standoff between Indian and Chinese armies last year.

He was India’sAmbassador to China from January 20, 2016, to October 21, 2017, before moving back to the MEA headquarters here.

Gokhale will have a two-year tenure as the foreign secretary. He has also served as India’s top envoy to Germany between October 2013 and January 2016. He has worked in Indian missions in Hong Kong, Hanoi and in New York.